According to former Tyrone star Sean Cavanagh, the internal strife in Donegal football has reached "shambolic" levels and has caused the Ulster county to fall behind the leading All-Ireland contenders.
On Sunday, in the Allianz Football League, Donegal suffered a crushing home loss to Mayo. This loss marks the latest setback in a miserable league season that has seen them record just one victory in six games and leave them bottom in Division 1.
The contentious departure of former county star Karl Lacey as head of the county's underage academy is the latest indication that the 2012 All-Ireland champions are enduring tough times.
"Karl Lacey departing was the opening of the Pandora's box," said Cavanagh.
"It's baffling for me, as a Tyrone man, much as a I love seeing Donegal suffer, the level of expertise and high performance they have in Karl Lacey, Jim McGuinness, Michael Murphy... they're generational-type winners and to let people like that disappear from a county fold all within a year, is shambolic really.
"You look at this disconnect that sometimes can be there in the GAA. You have to remember, the way the GAA is set up, there can be amateurs sitting on committees who are so far removed from the high-performance culture that exists within the mindset of those type of players."
The brain-drain in Donegal is a well-known tale among GAA clubs and counties. On and off the field, it's a common theme for the best and brightest to eventually fall through the cracks.
"You just have a massive disconnect because Karl Lacey doesn't understand why the county isn't supporting him to try and push on the youth of Donegal to get them back to winning All-Irelands. That's just wrong, the way in which there's that disconnect there," added Cavanagh.
"It happens in other clubs, it happens in other counties but it's playing out in an absolute shambles right now in in Donegal and the team is reflecting that on the pitch.
"The GAA as an organisation does this. There's men sitting on committees right across the country that aren't qualified to make decisions that will impact upon performance, that will impact on financials...
"Sometimes the people there just aren't of the same mindset and qualifications to run things in an efficient manner to get the best for Donegal football and it looks like a real mess is just playing out in public."
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